Durban - A woman who refused to wear a mask in supermarket and squabbled with retail staff who insisted she wear a mask is going viral online after the drama was captured on a cellphone.
Footage of the incident, which appears to have occured at a Pick n Pay store was shared on activist, Yusuf Abramjee’s Twitter page this week and had already been viewed over 133 000 times.
It is unclear which Pick n Pay the incident occurred at or when but the woman who appeared to be buying two loaves of bread launches into a tirade after being told to wear a mask.
Pointing her finger at the staff, she says that she knew her “legal rights“ before taking out a piece of paper from her bag which she claimed was a news article from a court ruling in June last that said the lockdown regulations were unconstitutional.
Employees at a supermarket told not to wear masks. pic.twitter.com/PvUwm31Jep
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) February 18, 2021
While the North Gauteng High Court did find some aspects of South Africa’s hard lockdown invalid and unconstitutional it did not invalidate the every aspect of the lockdown.
In fact as of February 1, failing to wear a mask in public is a direct criminal offence which could see offenders jailed for up to six months.
Previously it had been been a criminal offence only if a person refused to wear ask when asked to do so by an enforcement officer.
The woman in the video says it is “criminal” that “they make you people wear masks all day long”.
The Twitter community was largely outraged by the woman’s tirade, with some calling it a classic “Karen” move.
I kind of look forward to some entitled loudmouth spewing their selfish opinions and sputum around and abusing other people like that in front of me. I am sooooo ready for that situation.
— Madeleine Fullard (@mfullard2) February 18, 2021
Holy smoke! Karen has arrived 😖
— sandy shadwell (@dasandel) February 18, 2021
IOL